Possibility
by aaz
Summary: What happens to Hotch after the Season 4 finale? There are many possibilities. Here is one of them. Reviews are most welcome.
1. Chapter 1

**(Please be advised Criminal Minds and its characters do not belong to me, but only to CBS. Just to get the copyright issue clear :) here. Hope you will enjoy the story as much as I enjoy writing it. Have fun and reviews are most welcome to keep me going. Thank you so much to those who have done so.)**

A gun shot was heard in apartment 5C. Silence followed.

**At the BAU bullpen.**

Morgan came in carrying a box of donuts and a cup of coffee. As he reached his table, he could not shake a bad feeling. Something was off. He just could not put a finger to it. Brushing it aside, Morgan decided to seek out Garcia.

"Hi Baby Girl."

"Hi Angel."

They began talking about the massacre which saw more than 80 people murdered in Canada by a serial killer and they only arrived in Washington from Canada less than two hours ago. They went home immediately to change before reporting back to work.

"I am just glad that monster is now gone," said Garcia as she was enjoying one of the donuts.

"Hey Morgan, what's wrong," she asked noticing the trouble look on his face.

"I could not shake off this bad feeling," said Morgan as he absently sipped his coffee.

Thirty minutes later, most of the team had already gathered at the bullpen. Reid, wearing a blue sweater, was talking at warp-speed about one of his theories to Prentiss who was trying so hard not to laugh. Everything looked normal.

Rossi was walking to his room when he noticed the dark room next door. It was unlike Hotch to be late.

He turned around and walked towards the team at the bullpen.

"Anyone knows where's Hotch?"

All heads turned and looked at the dark room.

"He must have an errand to run to be this late. I could not recall he has ever been late though," said JJ.

Rossi took out his mobile and began dialing. Hotch's mobile phone rang, but no one answered. He then tried Aaron's home number and also no answer.

Before jumping to any conclusion, he called Hotch's ex-wife and was told that Aaron had visited Jack few days ago, but had not heard from him since then.

He looked at Morgan and exchanged a worried look.

Morgan volunteered to check on Hotch at his home and Reid wanted to accompany him.

The duo walked towards the elevator when Rossi called out stopping them at their track.

"Call us immediately when you reach there."

Morgan and Reid both nodded in agreement and made their exit.

The bullpen was quiet. Nobody said anything as they tried to keep themselves occupied with paperwork.

On the way to Hotch's place, Morgan started to imagine all the possibilities which would cause the unit chief to be late. Nothing was promising.

Reid kept giving Morgan nervous looks as he tried hard not to ask the dreaded question: Was Hotch injured?

As the SUV pulled up at Hotch's building, Morgan set a fast pace walking to the entrance as Reid tried to catch up.

They walked to the elevator and pushed the button to Hotch's floor.

Outside the door of apartment 5C, both stood still for few seconds as they tried to listen for any sound from inside the apartment.

It was just silence.

The silence was so thick, one could cut through it with a knife.

Morgan started to knock on the door, but no answer.

He dialed Hotch's mobile phone and he could hear it from inside the apartment.

Now, he was certain that something was seriously wrong. Morgan began breaking down the door and Reid helped.

Once they were inside, Morgan quickly took out his Sig Sauer and Reid followed suit. They moved quietly as they began to assess the situation.

Both saw the shattered glass on the floor near the mini bar and the blood. Morgan's blood went cold. He followed the blood trail to the master bedroom. His hand was slightly shaking as he slowly turned the knob. Taking a deep breath he burst into the room ready to fire his gun on recoil reflex if necessary.

What greeted them in the room made both men gasped.

They saw Hotch sprawled on the floor near the phone as blood seeping out from under him.

Morgan rushed to his side and quickly checked for pulse. His face went white when he could not find any and nearly jumped when Hotch groaned.

He slowly turned the injured agent.

Hotch's eyes fluttered open and struggling to say something, but Morgan could only make out a name "Foyet".

Morgan was shocked. He quickly took out his phone and called Rossi as Reid gave Hotch's address to a 911 operator who had answered the emergency call.

He quickly briefed Rossi of what had happened and Hotch's condition.

Holding Hotch's clammy hand, Reid encouraged their injured unit chief to stay awake.

Five minutes later, they could hear the sirens followed by running steps of the paramedics. Morgan was so relief when he saw the paramedics who immediately checked Hotch's vital signs and tried to stop the bleeding.

Once they had stabilized him, Hotch was carried to the waiting ambulance. Reid followed Aaron in the ambulance as Morgan secured the crime scene. While waiting for the rest of the team to arrive, he started to analyze the scene. He began to retrace Aaron's steps from the point the section chief walked into the apartment and threw his keys on a table. Aaron also took out his gun and mobile phone which he put on another table. He "saw" Hotch poured a drink when the intruder possibly Foyet made his presence known.

Few minutes later, Rossi and the rest of the team walked into the apartment. Morgan went up to Rossi and said: "It was bad."

Rossi nodded and saw the blood in the bedroom through the ajar door. He felt sick. Prentice and JJ looked grim as they walked through the scene. All of them were worried about Hotch, but they could not let their emotions paralyzed them because they had an Unsub to catch.

**At the emergency room.**

Hotch was wheeled into one of the rooms and doctors as well nurses began working on him. It was chaos inside the room. Reid could only watch from outside and flinched when he saw the damage caused by the gun shot when one of the nurses cut open Hotch's shirt. He was surprised that Hotch was still alive. One of the doctors barked at no one particular urging any of the nurse to get more blood supply. The doctor, in his mid-50s, worked swiftly assessing the damage and slowly turned Hotch to his side to check whether there was any exit wound. There was none.

The doctor quickly looked for the bullet inside the entry point. He prodded the wound causing Hotch to groan in pain and start to struggle. One of the nurses held his hand, trying to comfort him. The doctor found the bullet and began cleaning the gun shot wound on the abdomen from any fragment. Thankfully, Hotch was unconscious at that time.

**Few hours later at the BAU.**

Everyone was busy putting together information about Foyet. Morgan recalled how the sick bastard had knocked him unconscious but did not kill him. Until now, he still kept the bullet which Foyet had left behind to taunt him.

He began fiddling with the bullet as Rossi looked on.

"Morgan, are you ok?"

"I am not ok. That psychopath hurt one of us. How can I be ok Rossi."

"I know how you feel. But, we have to be objective so that we can catch the monster."

"I'm sorry..." Morgan said slowly. Rossi put a hand on Morgan's shoulder and whispered to him: "We will catch the bastard. I promise."

Morgan closed his eyes and nodded.

Prentiss and JJ as well as Garcia were setting up the white board with Foyet picture on it.

As they worked, they silently listened to Rossi and Morgan.

When one of the phones rang, everyone was startled. Prentiss answered the call since she was the nearest to the ringing phone.

They could hear her asking Hotch's condition and his prognosis. When Prentiss hung up, all eyes were on her. She gave them a grim smile.

"The doctors said he is stable for now. But, they are still worried that the the bullet could have caused more damage than what they have repaired. He is being monitored closely in the ICU. Reid said Hotch is still unconscious and he will call us when Hotch wakes up."

Rossi walked to the white board and stared at Foyet picture.

He then headed towards his office and stopped outside the door of Hotch room. He took a deep breath and walked into the dark room. He switched on the lights and moved towards the table. He took a picture of Hotch and Jack. Then he walked to his room and made few notes before going to the hospital.

**At the hospital**

Rossi met Reid and had a brief chat with the young agent. He went to Hotch room. The sight of the dark hair man hooked up to all the tubes made him sadder and angrier. He stood beside the bed and held Hotch hand.

"Hang in there Aaron. We still need you. Your team needs you. Jack needs you. Do you hear me...come back"

Suddenly he felt Aaron weakly squeezed his hand. Maybe, he was imagining it. Then he saw the tear from the corner of Aaron's closed right eye lid. Rossi sighed and held on to Aaron's hand for few minutes.

He then put the picture of Aaron and his son on the side table so that the dark hair agent could see it when he woke up.


	2. Chapter 2

**Few hours later at the BAU**

The team was looking for new leads with the help from the local police. They started to call up those who had some contacts with Foyet. Everyone at his former workplaces were tracked down so that the team could put together a profile and narrow down his whereabout.

Morgan had also placed uniforms outside Hotch room in the ICU.

"Garcia can you pull up the places Foyet had lived and worked. What can we see here?"

Reid looked at the red dots marking places Foyet had been for the past 10 years.

His mind began to form probable patterns or links to these marked places.

"He likes to stay in the east coast states. He likes teaching or employment that gives him access to young women."

Everyone took note what Reid had pointed out. Prentiss suggested to Garcia to display all learning institutions in Washington.

"Maybe we can start looking for him at all these places."

"But, there are hundreds and we don't have enough manpower to go through them," said Rossi, adding that Hotch shooter had yet to be identified.

"There are no finger print at Aaron's place that ties the shooting to Foyet. The neighbours saw nothing. All we have is Hotch's word. "

"For me that is good enough. I trust Hotch and he must have known something to say Foyet's name," Morgan argued.

Rossi gave Morgan a long hard stare and then he nodded in agreement.

"We could put out a bolo and send out his pictures to all enforcement agencies. At the same time we can send undercover agents to these colleges and universities so that we will not spook him," said Rossi.

"What about if I and Garcia make a list of those who are likely to hurt or have threatened Hotch in the past," Prentiss said to the team.

Morgan and Rossi nodded and both women immediately retreated into Garcia's operation centre to start putting together such a list.

"I will check on Hotch and if he is awake we can get learn more about the shooting," said Morgan.

**At the hospital**

The ex-cop walked into Hotch room and saw the picture that Rossi had put on the side table. Morgan pulled a chair and sat down beside the bed. He watched the monitor display which showed Hotch's heartbeat. Then he sensed someone was watching him and looked at Hotch when he saw that the injured agent's eyes were open.

"My God. Hotch you give us quite a scare."

"What happen?" Hotch whispered.

"You have been shot. Do you remember it?"

Hotch frowned as he tried to recall the incident. Then his fuzzy brain suddenly became clear and he remembered the pain when the bullet slammed into him. His eyes immediately darted to the door.

Morgan noticed the panic look on Hotch's face and immediately grabbed the injured agent who started to pull out the IV tube from his arm.

"No. Don't do that. You are safe. You are in the hospital now," he told Hotch.

"Can you tell me what happened on that day. You told me it was Foyet. Are you sure?"

"I just arrived home and poured myself a drink. I could feel someone was behind me and that was when I heard the sound of the gun cork being pulled. When I turned the shooter wearing a mask told me that I should have made the deal. Who else knows that except Foyet. He told me just that when we were working on that case," Hotch told Morgan.

Morgan asked whether he could remember anything else. Hotch remained quiet.

"So far the profile says he is still here. He will want to ensure that he has done the job. Since you survive, you are his unfinished business. Foyet will know this through the news reports."

Hotch turned his head and then saw the picture of Jack. He smiled and suddenly he gasped.

"What? Are you feeling pain? Should I call the doctor or nurse or someone?"

The injured agent shook his head as he slowly reached out to the photograph. Morgan immediately took the picture and gave it to him.

"If I am his unfinished business, he will want to hurt me through those I care," Hotch said with fear in his voice.

Morgan reassured him that his son and ex-wife had been moved to a safe location.

"We have also provided protection details for your brother."

Hotch looked at Morgan and asked: "What about the team?"

Morgan gave a small smile and told him that the team had been told to take all the extra precautions possible.

"We are worried about you. Garcia has bought you a cute pink bunny slippers because she doesn't want your feet to get cold when you are feeling better to move around."

Hotch smiled and slowly closed his eyes. Morgan saw how tired Hotch was and was not surprise when he fell asleep. Quietly leaving the room, Morgan decided to come back tomorrow and try getting more information from the injured unit chief. His gut told him that Hotch might know more than he had realised.


	3. Chapter 3

**(Thanks for the wonderful reviews. Sorry for the errors which are very likely to happen when trying to write a story while down with fever and flu :). By the way, English is not my first language so please bear with me ;)**

**At the BAU**

The team worked late into the night every day since the incident. They really, really wanted to catch the unsub who had injured one of their own. Rossi took charge since he was the most senior in the team and he kept the team busy because he understood it was the only way to keep the team rational rather than broke down out of worry for their unit chief.

"Garcia have you put together the list?" asked Rossi.

The usually bubbly computer-tech was subdued and unusually quiet. She put up the list on the screen for everybody to see.

"Hotch has made quite a number of enemies and he also made few more when he was a prosecutor. As you can see, I have narrowed it down though by highlighting the names of those who have died, still serving times and the ones who have migrated abroad."

Garcia looked at each member of the team and waited for their response. She had noticed how tired everyone was and the dark circles under Reid's eyes were darker now.

The young genius had spent hours and hours pouring over files and cross-checking any tip that the Metro DC had funneled to the FBI.

JJ spoke up and updated the team on Hotch's condition.

"He is still under close observation. His brother is here and and is with Hotch at the hospital."

Morgan nodded and tried to look at the evidences gathered from Hotch's apartment. He was still wondering why the Reaper had not left behind his credential that was taken when the unsub attacked him at one of the houses Foyet was staying.

"If Foyet is responsible, he will have left my credential at the scene to mock us further. Why didn't he do so?"

"Maybe, it is because Hotch is still alive. Or something must have spooked him before he can make sure Hotch is dead," said Reid.

Prentiss also expressed her fear that the assailant could be a copycat who was familiar with the Reaper's case and wanted to get back at Hotch using the Reaper's MO.

"If this is true, it will throw us off and we may be looking at this case wrongly," she said.

Rossi agreed with Prentiss and asked the team to keep such a possibility in mind.

**At the hospital**

Sean looked at his brother's still form as he sat beside the bed. He had not left Hotch's side since he arrived. He did not want to leave Aaron alone.

As Sean continued to monitor Aaron, he recalled how his big brother had always put himself between the beatings to spare Sean from the pain. He remembered how his big brother had curled himself into a small ball at a corner after each beating as he held on Sean's hand and silently endured the pain.

He had always asked Aaron why they were punished and had to endure such beatings when they had done no wrong. He recalled Aaron telling him, some people were monsters who liked to torture defenseless, innocent people and his big brother had told him many times that he wanted to become one of those who would catch these monsters.

True enough, Aaron became a prosecutor and later joined the BAU. His brother had put so many monsters behind bars and now a monster put his brother in the ICU.

Without realizing it, tears began to flow as Sean was lost in his memory when his brother's voice startled him.

"Hey little brother... Don't do that... I will be fine," Hotch whispered.

Sean continued to weep silently as he held on to his brother's hand.

Aaron kept silence waiting for Sean to gather himself. Despite being in pain, he put a brave smile for his little brother. He loved his brother.


	4. Chapter 4

**(sorry for the long delay. Just came back from Switzerland. Hope you all will continue enjoying the story :)**

Sean then looked at his brother and said: "Don't tell me you are not in pain Aaron. I know you too well. You always try to be strong for others. For once, allow me to be there for you big brother."

Aaron replied by squeezing his brother's hand. No word was necessary to describe the strong brotherly bond between them. Sure, they had their fights like siblings should be. But, they knew that they could rely on each other when the need arose.

"How long... have you... been here Sean?" Aaron asked.

"I came in yesterday's evening. I should have been here earlier, but I could not get a seat on earlier flight," Sean replied.

"I am... glad you.... are here," said Aaron as struggled to stay awake. He hated to be drugged although he understood the need for it for his body to heal.

**At the BAU**

Prentiss walked to Rossi's room.

"May I have a word with you Dave," she asked.

"Of course, Please come in Emily."

Dave waited for the young woman to take a seat and noticed how much Hotch's absence had affected everyone. Aaron might not realise it, but he meant a lot to these young agents- Morgan, Reid, JJ and Emily.

"The team is exhausted Dave. I fear that we will make mistakes. But, no one, myself included, wants to go home.

"My mind says go home, but my heart says stay on just for little while. When was the last time all of us have a good sleep, Dave? You have to say something," said Emily .

Dave understood Emily's concern and had planned to order them to get a good rest tonight. No one wanted to be the first to admit they were exhausted despite the physical and emotional fatigues. Their fierce loyalty and bond with their injured boss were admirable.

"You are right Emily. I will tell the team to go home tonight," he gave the young woman a smile.

"Thanks Dave." Emily stood up and walked towards the door.

At the door, she paused and turned around.

"You are a good man Dave. It's good to have you back."

Dave just smiled and said: "Thanks. I'm glad to be back."

He was impressed how much the BAU had progressed since his retirement. When he came back, it took time to get used to changes.

He walked to the bullpen and told the team to go home.

Of course they protested at first, but after he told them that they would be no use to Hotch if they fell flat on their faces out of exhaustion, they listened.

Even Reid who would usually give general statistics about anything was too tired to do so.

The team slowly gathered their things and walked to the elevator.

**At an abandoned factory**

He gleefully planned what he would do to the BAU leader. He was so angry when his visit to the agent's house was interrupted by a knock on the door. With the injured agent lying on the floor bleeding, he nearly rushed to the door and wanted to open it so that he could stab whoever standing there.

But, he had so many plans for Hotch. The man who was responsible in his downfall. He would get his revenge. He had to keep his cool and decided to flee from the apartment instead.

For now he had to be patience and made the preparation for Hotch. He had been keeping himself busy. He nailed together two thick boards and imagined nailing the pesky agent on it. Such a mental picture lightened his mood immediately.

He nearly drooled with anticipation. He would get his revenge as he continued setting up the torture chamber.

His mind was dark and he liked it.


	5. Chapter 5

The deranged man whistled as he kept himself busy preparing the chamber.

"What do you think if we hang him upside down. That will be hilarious isn't it?," he asked the other person in the room.

The second man who was sitting in a chair just kept quiet. No reaction. No movement.

The busy man looked at him and smiled.

"Don't worry, you will be proud to see what I have planned for our enemy. You see. Just wait, you'll see," he said.

The other man did not reply.

**At the hospital (few days later)**

Hotch was awake and he didn't look happy.

"What do you mean you cannot release me?"

"I am fine. See, I can stand without falling this time," said the senior agent.

He wanted to leave the hospital so bad that he could taste it. He was bored and didn't want to be in any hospital bed any time soon, period.

The dark hair agent even considered to sneak out and leave, but his "bodyguards" kept a close watch on him.

And, Dr Adam was equally stubborn, telling the BAU chief that he had to stay in the hospital for few more days.

"We still have to keep you here. Until all your doctors are happy with your progress, you can leave," said Dr Adam and left the room.

Hotch sulked. When Sean entered the room and saw his brother's face, he laughed.

"Sorry. Emmm...I guess the doctor won again this round. Come on Aaron, cheer up. How many times have you asked to leave, five times right. Don't worry, the doctors will eventually let you out."

"Easy for you to say that because you are not the one stuck in this bed. I'm bored, miss my son and miss the office," said Hotch as he continued to sulk.

Sean just shook his head with a smile on his face.

Later in the evening Rossi dropped by together with the rest of the team.

They updated their boss on the progress of their investigation. So far, they still could not find Foyet.

"I don't know Hotch. We have looked under all possible rocks, but we cannot find him. And, we know he is good at making himself untraceable," Rossi told Hotch.

Garcia reported that she had done all the possible cyber search she could think of, but Foyet seemed to have fallen off the grid.

She then saw the pink bunny slippers beside the bed. The sight made her smile.

"How do you like the slippers sir?"

"It's really comfortable, thanks Garcia. But, do they have to be in pink?"

The team laughed as they heard the embarrassment in Hotch's voice about the slippers. Garcia said: "I did look for manly colors sir, but they only come in pink."

"Well, at least Jack thinks they are cute and each time he's here he will put them on," said Hotch with a smile. He always felt better when the team came over to visit him.

Sean was talking with Morgan about the latest basketball results and teased the young agent on how his favorite team always whupped the team that Morgan favored. There were friendly shove between the two as they tried to defend their teams.

**Back to the old factory**

The shooter had finished "decorating" the torture chamber and now planning his move to get to Hotch.

"Do you think he will like the chamber? Both of us know he will have a `good time' in it...hahahahaha," he laughed.

He also told the other man not to worry because he had a plan to get the agent who had ruined their life.

The other man did not say anything.


	6. Chapter 6

The shooter continued keeping himself occupied. Busy, busy planning for the day the BAU chief would be brought to the chamber. He smiled as he worked laying down his plan.

The second man maintained his silence.

**A week later**

Hotch was released from the hospital. Dave and Morgan picked him and his brother from the hospital. On the way back to his apartment, he breathed in the fresh air and enjoyed the open space. After being cooped in the hospital for weeks, Hotch was ready to face the world and even his shooter.

As the SUV reached Hotch's apartment, Dave wondered if his friend could feel secured again in his own home. Hotch was thinking the same thing. He remembered the gunpowder smell as he was lying on the floor bleeding. He kept telling himself, it would be all right. Things would be normal again.

But Hotch was wrong. The shooter waited in his vehicle outside the unit chief's apartment building. He wanted to be there when Hotch arrived home. He saw how pale the man was and saw Hotch grimaced as he slowly walked to the entrance.

He was patient. He could wait for the right time to act.

"Welcome back Aaron...I will see you soon," the man gave a maniacal laughter and started his car as he kept replaying in his mind what he would do to the man who had ruined him. He blamed the man for his failed marriage. He blamed the man for his miserable life. He blamed the man for his son's suicide who could no longer stand the humiliation of being branded as a killer's son in school. The boy was only 14 years old.

**In the building**

Hotch made his way slowly to the elevator. He could feel his brother's worried look behind his back.

"I feel fine Sean. Stop staring at me," he said.

Sean startled and wondered how his brother knew what he was doing.

"Darn, you always do that. How do you know without looking."

"I'm your brother Sean, I know you too well," he smiled looking at Dave and Morgan who smiled back.

When the elevator arrived, he went in and remained silence until it reached his floor.

He hesitated to step out from the elevator and the gentle push by his brother from behind broke his and Morgan just looked without saying anything.

When he reached his door, he noticed the new lock and Morgan said: "I have to break it down." Hotch nodded and turned the knob.

As he stepped in, he braced himself. The first thing that hit him was the strong smell of cleaning chemicle which he knew was used to wash the blood from the floor. Other than that, the place looked the same.

"Are you okay Aaron?," asked Dave.

"I'm fine."

He walked to his bedroom and the three followed him.


	7. Chapter 7

**At the BAU few days later**

The team's spirit was high. They were busy in dealing with their own cases. But all of them would never stop looking for Foyet. Morgan went to find Garcia whom he knew was already buried herself in the cyberworld. She wore a bright yellow dress with a big pink flower clipped to her hair. Such a sight always cheered Morgan up.

In the bullpen, Prentiss and Reid had their daily banter in anything that struck their interest. JJ wanted to give some case reports to Rossi in his office and left them on his table.

As JJ coming down the stairs, she saw Hotch's ex-wife at the door. She gave Haley a big smile and beckoned her to come in. Then she saw Jack who sat on the floor trying to figure out how to tie his shoelace. The sight of the small boy looking so serious made JJ smiled wider.

"Hi Haley, what brings you here?" she asked the tall blond woman who scooped her son from the floor.

"Hi JJ, sorry to disturb you, I was few blocks away for a meeting and Jack is with me because the babysitter called in sick today,

"The meeting is still on and Jack here is already restless and he has been harassing the poor receptionist," she said as she struggled to hold on Jack who was squirming in her arms trying to get down. Haley set him on the floor and the boy ran to Reid.

"Uncle Reid, Uncle Reid," Jack called out to the young agent. Reid bend down and hugged the small boy.

"What do you have there tiger?"

"It's a stes...stess...cope, Uncle Reid. I want to make daddy all better. " Jack said as he struggled to remember the name of the bright red stethoscope that hung around his neck.

"Uncle Reid... I told mommy that I want to be a doctor. Then when daddy hurt again, I can help him," he looked at Reid who was smiling as he listened to the boy.

Haley turned to Rossi who was standing beside Morgan, asking whether she could trouble them to send Jack to Hotch.

"I don't like to impose, but the meeting is really important and I cannot miss it. Jack has been asking for his father and he will not stop asking until he's with Hotch," she said with a smile on her face as she watched her son giggled when Morgan tickled him.

"Of course we love to have him here and I will ask Reid to send Jack to Hotch," said Rossi.

Haley thanked him and hurried to her son who was now engrossed listening to Reid talking about dinosaurs.

She reminded Jack to behave and gave a big kiss on the boy's cheek. Jack hugged his mom and waved to her as she walked to the door.

Then Jack gave a loud squeal when he saw Garcia. The computer genius ran to the boy and gave him a big hug. Jack laughed and asked whether he could have a pair of pink slippers like his dad's. Everyone laughed and Garcia promised to give him a pair.

"Thanks Aunt Pen!!!"

About 10 minutes later, Reid took Jack's hand and walked to the door. At the door everyone gave him a hug.

"Okay tiger, buckle up. We'll see your dad soon."

They made their way to Hotch's place and Jack told Reid how a bad boy named Hugh liked to tease him.

**At Hotch's apartment**

Reid and Jack arrived at Hotch's floor and the boy ran to the door and began banging on the door.

Hotch opened it and broke into a wide grin when he saw his son who gave him a goofy smile.

Jack jumped up to his father and Hotch catched him. The boy hugged him tightly.

"Hi Hotch. Haley dropped by the office and asked for help to send Jack here."

"Thank you Reid. Please come in. I am about to start lunch and I can see that Jack here is hungry."

"I'm not ungry, but thirsty dad...can I have orange juice dad?"

"Of course buddy."

Hotch, Reid and Jack went to the kitchen. The boy ran to the refrigerator trying to open it. Barely able to reach the handle, Jack began jumping to grab it. Hotch quickly went to him and opened it. He took out a bottle of orange juice and poured the juice into a child's cup which was decorated with transformer robots.

Jack happily began sipping the juice as he was playing with a G.I. Joe soldier doll on the floor.

"How are you Hotch?" Reid asked.

Hotch replied that he felt better every day and could not wait to go back to work.

"Daddy...look at my stes...stes..cope. I want to be a doctor. So when you get hurt I cam make you all better"

Hotch hugged his son and laughed when Jack began to put the stethoscope on his back trying to listen to his heart beats. Reid watched the father and son and laughed when Jack shoved the stethoscope to Hotch's nose.

Suddenly the someone was knocking on the door.


	8. Chapter 8

**(Thanks for all the reviews. You guys are the greatest!!! :)**

Hotch walked to the door and looked through the peep hole. He saw a man wearing a blue cap and holding a big envelope including a clipboard. Thinking it was a UPS deliveryman, the BAU chief opened the door and immediately found himself lying on the floor. When he looked up, he saw that he was staring into a gun barrel held by a masked man.

"Don't hurt my son," Hotch pleaded for Jack's safety.

Reid immediately grabbed Jack and pushed the boy behind him. Jack screamed in protest and Hotch looked helplessly at his frightened son.

"Don't you hurt my daddy!!!...Uncle Reid tell that man not to hurt my daddy please..." Jack sobbed.

"I will not hurt your daddy if he behaves," the masked man said with menace in his voice.

"Uncle Reid...please Uncle Reid don't let that ...bad man hurt daddy."

"Please don't hurt him. He's afraid. I will do whatever you want me to do," said Hotch

Reid looked at the armed man grimly. His main concern now was to keep Jack safe. Listening to Jack's heart wrenching plea, the young agent nearly lost it.

Hotch asked the masked man to allow him to go to his son so that he could try calming down his hysterical son.

"Let me go to him. If you want me to follow you, I have to be with my son now."

"You are in no position to ask for anything. But, I am not an evil man. I was a father myself. Go to your son. But don't do anything funny.

"This gun is pointing at your head. Any funny move, it'll not be pretty," the masked man warned.

Hotch quickly reached for his crying son and hugged the boy.

"Buddy. You have to be strong okay."

"No daddy. I don't want to be strong."

"Yes, you have to. Don't be scared. I'll be fine."

"But that bad man will hurt you daddy. Don't go please...please daddy."

"Look at me buddy...be strong for me," Hotch whispered to his son.

"Okay daddy...(sob)...take my stet...stet ..toscope daddy, If you get hurt daddy, you can use it" Jack said throwing himself to his father and gave Hotch a big hug and a wet kiss on his father's cheek. Hotch broke down and held his son tightly.

Jack continued hugging his father. Both father and son sat on floor trying to console each other.

Reid felt helpless and wished that he could do something.

Hotch then looked up asking Reid to keep Jack safe.

"You must take care of Jack and get him to safety," Hotch said. He slowly let go of Jack and stood up. Facing the gunman, Hotch told him that he was ready to leave. The BAU chief fought hard to ignore his son's cry pleading him to stay.

"Hotch..don't" Reid said.

"Remember what I say. Jack's safety is more important now. Whatever you plan to do, please don't. Reid... bring Jack back to the team," Hotch told the young agent and walked towards the door.

"Yeah, keep that in mind agent Reid, don't try to be brave. Don't come after us," he said and followed Hotch out.

Reid felt time stood still with Jack in his arm, sobbing quietly.

He tried to soothe the boy. Taking his phone out, he quickly called Rossi to tell the senior agent what had happened.

Less than 20 minutes, the team was in Hotch's apartment.

"Reid where's Jack?" Prentiss asked the young agent.

He told her that the boy was sleeping in Hotch's room.

She went to the room and slowly opened the door. Prentiss saw Jack had curled into a small ball sucking his right thumb. The boy was sound asleep and Prentiss closed the door quietly.

In the living room, Morgan was on the phone talking to someone on the other line and he didn't look happy. Reid was describing the gunman general physical description.

"He was about my height. I couldn't see his face because of the mask. But, I saw a tattoo on his left arm. It was the alphabet` M'."

Rossi gave the information to Garcia who began inputting the details into her computer and began doing a search in every database available nationwide.


	9. Chapter 9

**(To all my reviewers, you guys are the best. Thanks for the support :)**

**At the abandonned factory.**

Hotch was roughly pushed out from the van with his hands tied together. He held on to Jack stethoscope which he refused to surrender to his abductor. When the man tried to take it away from him, he fought hard until the mask man decided it was less painful to allow Hotch keeping the red stethoscope rather than fighting over it.

The BAU chief looked around him and found that he was at a secluded place. The mask man told him to go to the dark building.

"Don't try anything Aaron...for your boy's sake, just do what I tell you to do."

"Who are you? Do I know you?" Aaron asked.

"Why Aaron you hurt my feeling. It isn't that long since we last met," he whispered to his ear from behind and Hotch could feel the gun on his back.

Hotch was now certain that his abductor was not Foyet. He tried to recall the man's voice which sounded quite familiar, but the name just slipped from his mind. He then made an attempt to get the man to reveal more about himself.

"Uh uh uh... stop that mind game Aaron. I am not going to fall for it. If you want to know about me. Be patient, you will know sooner or later."

At the door, Hotch hesitated. The mask man pushed him and he stumbled into a dark space. He could hear the man trying to find the light switch behind him.

"Come, come. Don't be shy. There's someone who wants to meet you," the mask man taunted Hotch.

Hotch then saw a man facing away from the door sitting in a chair. He wondered who was the other man and he began to walk towards him. The mask man followed from behind.

"Yooohooo! Honey we're home....look who we have for dinner...hehehehehe."

"Don't worry Aaron, he's a bit shy. Go ahead. He will not bite. He has been waiting for you quite awhile now," he said, laughing.

Hotch could feel something was not right about the other man.

**In Hotch's apartment**

Morgan and Rossi worked on Reid trying to get him to remember everything about the man who had taken Hotch. They could see that Reid was struggling to remember more about the unsub and became more frustrated every time he failed to recall anything new.

"Reid, I want you to go back to the moment before the unsub knocked on the door," Rossi slowly began to put the young agent at ease and began the cognitive recollection procedure.

"Reid tell me what is happening now."

"Hotch hugs Jack and the little boy runs to the kitchen for a cup of juice. He looks adorable with the red stethoscope hug around his neck. Father and son are now talking. They talk about Jack wanting to heal Hotch from his injuries. I can see the worry on Jack's face when they talk about Hotch getting hurt.

"I laugh when Jack accidentally jammed the stethoscope to Hotch's face. Suddenly there's a knock on the door," Reid said as he frowned.

Rossi asked what happened after the knocking on the door.

Reid became agitated and the senior agent immediately putting him at ease again.

Morgan, Prentiss and JJ kept quiet while they listened to Reid's account on the kidnapping.

"I am so worried about Jack and Hotch. The mask man is pointing a gun to him. I push Jack behind me and the boy protests loud..very loud. He begs me to stop the bad man from hurting Hotch. I cannot move because the man will hurt Hotch and Jack. His voice...I know that voice. I have heard it before. But I have to keep Jack safe. Hotch asks me to keep his son safe.

"That voice. I've heard it before," Reid said and then opened his eyes. Everyone looked at the young agent, waiting for him to identify Hotch's kidnapper.

Reid was struggling to put a name to the voice.

"Come on Reid. Put that genius mind to work. You can recall more difficult stuff than this," Morgan urged the young agent.

**In the factory**

Hotch was shocked to see who it was in the chair. It was Foyet. He was dead and he had been frozen. The unseeing eyes gave a sinister look to Foyet's face when death came knocking.

Now, he knew why his team could not find the Boston reaper. If Foyet's dead, who in heaven's name wearing his mask.

"Come on Aaron...you know me."

"Nothing hmmm...too bad. I prefer that you know who is giving you so much pain. I have plans for you. It will be fun."

"Move along...my friend Foyet will surely enjoy your scream...hehehehe," the man chuckled.


	10. Chapter 10

**In the abandoned factory**

Hotch could only watch helplessly at his abductor as he was tied to a pillar. He still held on to Jack's red stethoscope tightly as if it was his lifeline. If the deranged man wanted to make him go crazy screaming in pain, be it, but Hotch promised to himself that he would not give in easily. "Who is the man?," the BAU chief asked himself. He knew he had heard that voice before.

As Hotch was trying to identify the voice, he did not notice that the mask man was behind him holding a knife. Suddenly he felt a sharp hot pain in his left side causing him to gasp in surprise. Hotch could feel blood began seeping through and it started to make a bright red stain on his white shirt. Before his mind could register what had happened, he nearly blacked out when a fiery hot agony exploded from the same wounded side. He could smelled burned skin and then he realized that his wound had been cauterized.

The mask man silently watched as Hotch breathed heavily from the blinding pain and his body was still reeling in shock. The senior agent gripped his son's stethoscope tightly until his knuckles turned white.

"Having fun yet, Aaron?," the man asked.

"You bastard... whoever you are" Hotch replied.

The unsub just laughed and he could not stop laughing.

Once he calmed down, the mask man picked up the bloodied knife and lovingly caress the sharp tip. He walked closely to Hotch and the senior agent tried not to flinch when the deranged man pointed the sharp point to his face.

"Hmmm... I wonder where is the gun shot wound I gave you when we last met? If I remember correctly, I was holding the gun at this level," he said and without warning he drove the knife few inches deep into the old wound. Hotch could only clench his teeth in pain as he refused to scream and give his tormentor the satisfaction of hurting him.

"It's okay Aaron...it's okay to scream. I know you want to," he said and Hotch could hear the glee in the man's voice.

When the man took a hot rod to the wound, Hotch blacked out from the pain.

**At Hotch's apartment**

Prentiss and JJ went into the room where Jack was sleeping. They wanted to be with him when the boy woke up.

In the living hall, Morgan and Rossi were still trying to help Reid to remember the unsub.

"I'm sorry guys. I really try," Reid said.

"I know Reid. Can you describe to us the voice?," Rossi asked.

Reid said the unsub had a low voice and sounded quite raspy like a heavy smoker should sound. Only then the young agent remembered the heavy lingering cigarette smell on the unsub.

Morgan called Garcia and was told to include a search parameter for offenders that Hotch put behind bars who were heavy smokers.

"Baby girl, did you find anything about the letter `M' tattoo?"

"My babies here are still hard at work searching for it... Morgan, I'm scared," Garcia whispered.

"So am I baby girl. So am I," said Morgan.

**Inside the bedroom**

Jake began to wake up and his big brown eyes lit up when he saw the two agents.

"Hi...where daddy?," Jack asked for Hotch as he sat up rubbing his eyes.

Prentiss kneeled beside the bed and took Jack's small hands.

As Jack looked at Prentiss then he remembered about the bad man. He threw himself at Prentiss for comfort. Prentiss soothed the frightened boy.

"Aunty Emily...why the bad man taking daddy," he asked quietly and began sucking his right thumb.

Prentiss picked up the boy and brought him to the living hall. Morgan looked at Prentiss and he saw the strain in her eyes. Jack put his head Prentiss' shoulder when he saw Morgan and Rossi.

"Hey buddy, are you all right?," Morgan asked as he ruffled the boy's hair. Jack nodded without taking out the thumb from his mouth. Rossi understood that the boy was still scared and signaled to Prentiss to bring Jack to the kitchen.

JJ followed them and walked to the refrigerator and take out the orange juice. She offered to Jack who slowly reached out for it. Both agents kept Jack occupied in the kitchen

Reid continued to rake his brain trying to identify the voice.

"It's my fault Morgan. I should have acted and maybe...just maybe the man will not take Hotch," said the young agent.

"No, Reid. What you have done is right. You follow your guts and they told you that you must keep Jack safe. Hotch will not have it any other way."

"Yeah...but I.."

"No but Reid. You have done what all of us will have done in your shoes," Morgan said. Rossi' phone suddenly rang.

**Inside the factory.**

Hotch slowly woke up. His mind was a bit groggy and when he moved his side was throbbing fiercely.

"Uh...you are awake. Wakey wakey Aaron. We miss you. "

"Why are you doing this," Hotch whispered asked the man who was sitting on the floor in front of him.

"Why? Why? I will tell you why. You have destroyed me. But, that is a story for another day," he said.

"Now where were we before you lost consciousness...?"


	11. Chapter 11

Hotch struggled to loosen the rope while the crazy man was away. He wouldn't know how much more he could withstand the torture and he only had a small window of opportunity to escape. His wrists were slick with blood as he tried to free himself.

Suddenly, the deranged man was back. Hotch could sense the man's presence and immediately ceased the struggle.

"Tsk...tsk...tsk. What are you doing Aaron? Trying to escape? When are you going to learn that you never will."

Hotch could only stare at the masked man's wild eyes and helplessly watched the man picking up a syringe with a clear liquid in it.

"What is that? No...don't please," Hotch pleaded as the man approached him and pulled up his left shirt sleeve.

"This will not hurt. Who am I kidding. It will hurt a lot," the man chuckled.

As the liquid hit his system, the BAU chief felt a burning sensation in his arm and gasped in pain. It certainly worsened his condition and he was already weak from the blood lost and the stress of the torture.

"What...did...I...do...you," Hotch asked as he felt cramps. His visions began to blur and it hurt to look into the light. Then he threw up whatever food he had for lunch and passed out from the severe pain.

The masked man just looked without moving for few seconds and then whistled as he began cleaning the mess.

**At the BAU**

The team was exhausted when they arrived at the office later in the evening. Jack was sleeping inside the car on the way from Hotch's apartment. Rossi had received a call from Garcia who was hysterical on the phone saying that she had received a package with a letter saying that the team must gather when they watched whatever was on the DVD.

Morgan gave Garcia a hug and promised her that they would get the unsub who had Hotch.

Prentiss gently put Jack on the sofa inside Hotch's office and covered him with a blanket.

She joined the team who had gathered in the viewing room. Rossi took the DVD and put it into a player. It started showing an abandoned factory in unmarked area.

The camera then showed a man sitting in a chair. It slowly panned and showed Hotch who was tied to a pillar. They could see the blood stains and the burn marks. Garcia whimpered to see such horror and Morgan felt like wanting to punch someone when he saw what was done to his boss. Reid, Rossi and JJ just watched in silence with grim look on their face. Prentiss had enough and decided to check on Jack. When she returned she saw the TV screen was dark and turned to Rossi.

"What did the sick bastard want from us?," she asked and Rossi hit the play button for her to listen to the instruction.

"There are just rambling numbers. They don't make sense, right Reid," Prentiss faced the young agent.

"Not necessarily Emily. They must mean something. They could be numbers to bank accounts and library codes. Let me work on them.

"Rossi, we must catch the bastard soon... I mean really soon. I don't know how much more he can take. Hotch just got better from his earlier injuries for God's sake," Morgan said.

"I know, I know which is why we have to get inside the unsub's head. He's sending us the DVD and this tell us what?," asked Rossi.

""He wanted us to stop him. And, the bastard is arrogant enough to send us the disc to tease us."

"Yes. But he forgets that every little detail inside it will lead us to where Hotch is," said Rossi.

Morgan volunteered to scrutinize each frame with Garcia. The two immediately left the bullpen. JJ, Reid and Prentiss worked on the numbers. Rossi went to Hotch's office and saw that Jack was awake.

"Hi Uncle Dave."

"Hi Tiger. What are you doing up."

"I have a bad dream about daddy... He calls my name. Then a monster chase daddy and me. We run...and I fell. My knee hurt I cried. I make too much noise, the monster found us and take daddy away.

"Uncle Dave please find daddy... I promise I be a good boy. I clean my room," Jack said with an earnest a five-year-old could muster.

Rossi gave the boy a big hug and assured him he would see Hotch again.

"I will hunt down the monster and rescue your daddy."

He picked up the boy and sang a lullaby. Jack listened and put his head on Rossi's shoulder. The song soothed the boy and few minutes later Jack was asleep again. Slowly, Rossi put the boy on the sofa and covered him with the blue blanket, which he usually saw Hotch would use when his friend spent late nights in the office.

**In the factory**

Hotch slowly woke up. His visions were still blurred and he saw that the unsub was sitting at a desk. The man had taken off his mask, but the BAU chief could not see the face clearly for his eyes had trouble focusing.

"Uh...you are awake Aaron. Good. It is quite lonely out here."

"Where.. is here?," Hotch asked.

"As if I'm going to tell. Why not, you are not going to tell anybody. You know this place, we first met here seven years ago."

"After our meeting, my life changed and I lost everything. I blame you," he said vehemently.

Hotch had troubled swallowing and tried to clear his throat.

The man laughed and told him about the venom.

"What did... you give me?"

"It is something I found in the desert. Don't worry the effects will eventually wear off," he told the BAU chief.

Then, the man continued telling his story. He blamed Hotch for the death of his son who took his own life because he was branded as a killer's son.

Hotch tried to remember the case, but his brain was a bit sluggish and had troubled focusing to what the unsub was telling him. Few minutes later, the man stood up and went to the video camera that set up at the right corner of the room.


	12. Chapter 12

**In the bullpen the next day.**

A package was seen on Reid's table. The morning cleaning crew ignored it. They put on their earphones and began cleaning the office. It was just another day at the office for the cleaning crew. Morgan and Garcia, however, were oblivious to the sound of the vacuum cleaner as they were sound asleep on the sofas inside Rossi room after spending the whole night looking through each frame of the DVD. They managed to put together a list of things that the video able to capture. Although it was a short list, they were possible clues which could lead to Hotch.

The rest of the team had left later in the night. Reid, JJ and Prentiss also managed to narrow down several possibilities that the numbers could refer to. Rossi had brought Jack home with him after he could not get Haley on the phone to tell her about Hotch. He left a message asking her to call him back. He didn't want Jack to spend the night at the office.

Few hours later Reid came in looking as tired he was the night before. Not far behind Prentiss was holding a hot coffee and a box of donuts. JJ was in her office started to make calls to the US Marshal office to check whether they had any leads of Foyet's whereabouts.

"Oh man, you look bad as I feel Reid," Prentiss told the young genius as she set down the donut box on her table.

Minutes later Rossi walked in with Jack beside him. The boy gave them a small wave while busy sipping the orange juice that Rossi had bought for him.

They walked to Rossi's office and when Jack saw Garcia on the sofa he ran towards her to give her a hug which startled the blond IT tech genius making her sit up at attention with her spectacles sat lopsidedly on her nose. She made a funny sight that Jack began to giggle.

"Uh...what...what time is it?," Garcia asked sleepily as she adjusted her spectacles. Morgan began to wake up too from the other sofa in the room.

"It's 10am guys...I saw donuts on Prentiss table if you want them," Rossi told the two agents.

She gave Jack a big hug before making her way to Prentiss who was talking to Reid. Morgan held Jack in his lap and told Rossi of what they had found on the DVD.

"Hey Garcia. You want some donuts for that much-required sugar rush ," Prentiss offered as she held out the donuts to her.

"Bless you my precious," Garcia said as she grabbed one of the sinfully delicious donuts sprinkled with fine white sugar.

Reid then realised the small package on his table and began to open it. When he saw what was inside the box made him jump from his seat and run to get Rossi. Both women were startled by the young agent's sudden departure.

**At the factory**

Hotch felt weak. After few hours, the pain finally subsided. He could only recall bits and pieces of the crazy man's ranting about how he had destroyed the man's life. When would the bad guys learn that it was hard to listen when you were in great pain, Hotch wondered. His struggle to loosen the rope throughout the night had paid off as he could feel it begin to ease a bit.

"Good morning Aaron"

Hotch looked up and saw the man without the face mask.

"You?"

"Yes agent Hotchner it's me. Are you surprised?"

"When did you get out from prison?"

"The judge is kind enough to reduce my sentencing due to good behaviour. Do you believe that crap."

Hotch was surprised that the man who was found guilty for three killing small girls had been released.

"No way... It is not possible," Hotch said.

The man laughed and told him that he was right.

"I staged my death in prison. You will be surprised how far a lot of money can get you out of the system. "

Then everything made sense. He had heard of the man son's suicide. The boy became depressed when his father was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole after he was found guilty killing the three young girls whose bodies were found buried inside the man's greenhouse.

"Adam's death... is not my fault, Michael."

Michael hit Hotch and told the BAU chief that he had no right to say his son's name.

"Oh I blame you agent Hotchner. Your testimony against me has branded me as a child killer who if I quote you correctly was a deranged man with high tendency to kill again. You said I must be put away at all cost for the sake of other children. My boy was never the same again since then. So I swore on my boy's soul that I will have my revenge."

Hotch then asked Michael why he killed Foyet.

"That man only got in my way. He wanted to kill you and refused to let me `play' with you first. What a bore that man was so I put him out of his misery. You should thank me though because Foyet wanted to kill Jack and your ex-wife too. Still I wanted him to be `here' when I brought you in so I froze him. Nice touch wasn't it, it was a masterpiece I have to say. he's still `fresh' so to speak," he laughed.


	13. Chapter 13

Reid was shaken and looked trouble when he reached Rossi's room. Without thinking twice he barged into the room to get Morgan and Rossi's attention. Looking at Reid's flustered face, both agents knew that something was wrong.

"What is it Reid?" Rossi asked quietly.

He and Morgan looked at the young genius trying to remain calm as they didn't want to scare Jack who was playing a transformer robot nearby.

The young agent told them about the box.

"Morgan's credentials as well as Hotch's were in it. There are blood stains on them," he said. Reid also told them about a third item inside the box which was a mysterious clear liquid vial.

"Is there a note?," Morgan asked.

Reid nodded and read it out:"Time can bring you down, Time can bend your knees. Time can break your heart." The two agents looked at him with a baffled look on their faces.

"I know these words. They sound so familiar," Reid told them. He called Garcia, who had gone back to her office, and asked her to do a search on them online.

The tech analyst's fingers flew on the keyboard as she keyed in the three phrases.

"Ok...They are several possibilities here including they could be taken from books and songs," Garcia told them through the phone speaker.

"Garcia, narrowed down the search to song lyrics which have all three of them. The sentence structure is more like a lyric of a song," Reid said.

"Bingo! They are from from Eric Clapton's song entitled Tears in Heaven". The full version of the lyrics have been sent to your PDAs," she said before hanging up the call.

They left Rossi's room and gathered at the briefing room. Reid put up the song lyric on the plasma.

"What does it mean aside from it is a sad song?" Morgan asked.

Reid told them the singer composed the song following the death of his son.

"Maybe, we should look at past cases involving those who have lost their sons," the young genius added.

**At the factory**

Hotch tried to recall Michael's profile so that he could try using it in his attempt to escape.

"Michael, your son will not want you to do this."

"What do you know about what my son wants. He's dead, thanks to you. You call his father a child's killer. You can never understand. I love the three girls. They have suffered so much in this life so I put them out of their misery. What so wrong about that?"

"You took their lives and they didn't ask for it," Hotch replied.

"They didn't know anything. They were young. But, I know what was best for them," said Michael, who was busy filling the syringe with the clear liquid again. Hotch saw the syringe and knew he would go through another episode of extreme pain. The BAU chief wondered how much more his battered body could endure the pain.

**Back to the BAU**

Garcia managed to narrow down two cases which involved unsubs who had lost a son.

The two cases with the pictures of the unsubs were displayed on the plasma and the files were distributed to each team member.

"The first involved a female unsub whose son was found drowned in a bathtub. She's still serving time in the Federal Correctional Institution Tuscon for killing her husband," said Prentiss as she read the case file.

Morgan pointed out that the second case involved Michael Stanton the IV who was found guilty killing three girls. But, he noted that the man had been listed as dead in prison.

"It says here that his body was found burnt beyond recognition in a freak fire inside his cell one day," he added.

Rossi asked whether Michael's body had been identified to be his, Reid replied that the prison doctor had made the identification.

"Was there a DNA test?", Rossi asked as he looked through the thick file.

Reid who could read faster than everyone in the team said he could not find the report of any DNA testing.

JJ immediately picked up the phone and called the Tuscon correctional institution and asked for the prison doctor.

Her grim look showed that she wasn't happy listening to what the other person was saying at the other end.

When she put down the phone, all eyes were on her and she informed them that the prison doctor was killed in his home few days later after Michael's death.

"What if he's not dead," said Prentiss.

She said it was too much of a coincidence that the only doctor who had identified Michael's remain was dead.

"It doesn't feel right," she said.

Rossi agreed with her. He assigned Prentiss and JJ to go to Arizona and check out the incident.

**In the old factory**

Hotch tried to distract his kidnapper by keeping him busy talking about his son.

"Michael. Tell me about Adam," Hotch asked.

"Why?", he replied.

"You told me that I don't know anything about your son. Please tell me about Adam. I want to know more about him," Hotch said.

Michael put down the syringe and pulled a chair. He sat down and gave Hotch an intense look.

"He was a great boy. I would always read to him at night and his favourite book was `A Tale of Two Cities'."

He continued talking about Adam for few minutes with a far away look on his face.

As the unsub was busy telling him about his dead son, Hotch desperately tried to loosen the rope around his bloodied wrist and suddenly his hands were freed. He kept his hands behind him and would act when the time was right.


	14. Chapter 14

**At the Tuscon Correctional Facility in Arizona**

Prentiss and JJ met with the prison warden. They were told that the body was still being kept in the prison mortuary and was scheduled for cremation next week.

They asked the warden to release the body to them so that they could send it to Washington for identification.

Meawhile, Morgan Rossi and Reid were busy putting together Michael's profile and listed down the places he usually visited.

"He also owned several properties in Arizona as well as Virginia. His family had a lot of money which can feed most people in several third world countries. He was arrested in Virginia, but his case was transferred to Arizona because the three murders were committed there," Garcia told the three men.

"Who was the arresting agent, Garcia?" Rossi asked.

The technical analyst told them that Hotch was the leading agent of the BAU team that had arrested Michael and two weeks later his son cut his wrists.

"The son's body was discovered by the maid inside the bathroom. The poor boy. It was not his fault to have a royal creep killer as a father," Garcia said.

**Inside the old factory**

Michael stopped talking about his son and once again picked up the syringe. When his back was turn, Hotch slowly stood up and came up slowly from behind.

He grabbed the killer and Michael fought hard. The deranged man managed to turn around and stabbed Hotch with the syringe on his chest. The BAU chief threw a hard punch and the crazy man dropped to the ground unconscious. Hotch began to feel the effect of the liquid in his system. His visions began to blur as he staggered to the door. When he stepped out, the sun light hurt his eyes. But, Hotch pushed himself and determined to put some distance between him and his kidnapper. He began walking.

**At the BAU**

Rossi was told that the body had arrived in Washington and a DNA test was being conducted on it. Prentiss and JJ had arrived from Arizona. Less than an hour, the result of the DNA test came back and it was confirmed that the body was not Michael.

"Guys, I now remember. I was doing a research paper on serial killers who targetted children. That voice. It is definitely Michael. I recall it from an interview tape with the prison psychiatrist," said the young genius.

"We have several addresses of his properties here. He only had one day ahead of us and I doubt that he would bring Hotch to Arizona as he would want to get into hiding fast. He would know that the whole FBI and the police have begun looking for Hotch. It would be too risky to be on the road too long," said Morgan.

The ex-cop said Michael was obsessed with Hotch and blamed the BAU chief for his arrest.

"The fact that he has my credentials and Hotch's also say that he knows Foyet. When we find Michael, we will find Foyet," Morgan added.

Rossi immediately assigned Morgan and Reid to check out an old factory that Michael's family owned in Woodbridge. Prentiss and JJ would go to the house that Michael had in the city. He would check out the penthouse where Michael's son killed himself.

When Morgan and Reid reached the factory, they saw the ajar door and slowly approached the building with their guns drawn. They entered the premise with great caution and saw dried blood on the floor near one of the pillars and a discarded syringe on the floor. But no one was inside.

Morgan went out again as Reid continued to look through the things inside the factory.

"Morgan, Hotch is definitely here. See this red stetescope, Jack gave him. There's a bloodied rope behind that pillar and scuffle marks on the floor. The blood drops are still fresh and the gravitational drop showed that whoever is bleeding headed towards the door," he told the ex-cop who came back into the factory after making sure the situation was clear outside.

Both men followed the blood drops into an abandoned corn field growing near the factory.

Reid looked at Morgan who signaled to him to go to the right and he went to the left. As they walked through the cornfield, Reid realised that it was too quiet. No sound of birds. Nothing. Then he heard something few feet away from him on his left side. He moved quietly and was stunned to see the sight before him.

Hotch was pinned on the ground by Michael and the deranged man was pushing the blade into the right side of his abdomen. The BAU chief weakly struggled as the pain became overwhelming.

"tsk...tsk...tsk don't move agent Hotchner. It will only worsen the pain. Now, this is for the trouble you have caused me for chasing you down," said Michael as he twisted the blade.

Reid slowly made his move and aimed the gun at Michael.

"Michael. Let go of the knife slowly. Move away from him now"

The man leaned down and whispered to Hotch: "Looks like your friend is here. Dont worry. I. Will. Kill. Him."

"No..no," Hotch struggled harder now.

Michael stood up and faced Reid. He gave the young agent a sinister smile.

"Hello, hello. Who might you be?," Michael asked as he began moving toward him. Reid backed away slowly, but he still had the gun aimed at Michael.

"Stop. I will shoot," Reid warned and suddenly his right foot was caught in a hole. The young agent lost his footing and fall to the ground. The gun went off, but missed the unsub. Michael lunged at Reid.

Morgan heard the shot and began running towards it.

"Reid! Reid! Where are you?"

He heard noises and headed towards them. He stumbled into Hotch who was lying on the ground.


	15. Chapter 15

Morgan saw the unsub swang a fallen branch at Reid who covered his head with his arms and grunted in pain when it hit flesh.

The ex-cop did not think twice and tackled the unsub to the ground. Reid who was bleeding from a head wound began to crawl towards Hotch. With a trembling hand, the young agent checked for the older agent's pulse. When he found it, Reid sighed in relief. He then looked at the knife and wondered whether he should pull it out. Afraid that it would worsen Hotch's condition, he left it be.

Suddenly, Hotch began to seize. Reid immediately held his boss down before he hurt himself further. He checked Hotch's pulse again and he could feel that it had become thready.

"Morgan whatever you do, end it fast! Hotch's condition worsens" Reid called out to Morgan who was still grappling with the deranged unsub who fought like a rabid dog.

"I...am....trying. This guy refuses...to cooperate..urgggh," Morgan replied before headbutted the unsub. Michael dropped to the ground without a sound. After putting the hand cuff on the unconscious unsub, he scrambled to Reid.

"How is he, Reid?," Morgan asked. The young agent told him about the seizure. Taking out his cell phone, he dialled 911. After telling the operator their whereabouts, Morgan called Rossi.

"We found him Rossi. But, he's in a bad shape. Yes. We have Michael. But no sign of Foyet...ok," he ended the call.

"How are you Reid?"

"I will live. How long will help arrive?" Reid asked. Morgan replied: "Soon."

Few minutes later, the ambulance screeched to a stop at the factory and behind it was Rossi and the rest of the team. The SUV stopped beside the ambulance and the team together with the three paramedics followed Morgan who led them to where Hotch and Reid were.

One of the paramedics took a look at Reid's head wound and the rest concentrated on Hotch. They quickly started an IV line and temporarily dressed the wound without touching the knife.

"Pete, his BP is too high for my liking," paramedic Alan told his partner.

"Guys, he was seizing for few seconds," Reid told them.

Rossi and team could only watch with a worry look on their faces as the paramedics worked on Hotch. Then Hotch woke up and groggily looked around.

"Hey buddy" Rossi said as he bend down beside the BAU chief.

"Dave?" Hotch said weakly. He could feel the burning pain around the area where the needle had pierced in addition to the raw throbbing at his side where the stab wound was located. Suddenly, he felt so sick that he threw up, but his stomach was empty.

Rossi's worry doubled as he could see the agony in his friend's eyes.

"Aaron. Do you know what Michael injected you with?," Rossi asked.

"He...said...it was...someth...ing...he...found...in the...desert," Hotch answered as he fought to stay awake.

The paramedics lifted Hotch onto a stretcher. Rossi and Morgan each took a hold of the stretcher handle together with the paramedics carried Hotch out of the cornfiled.

Prentiss and JJ helped Reid.

Inside the ambulance, the paramedics secured Hotch and Reid before sped off to the hospital. Rossi followed the two injured agents in the ambulance. During the 10-minute trip, Rossi watched Reid who was lost in his own thought as he absently held his injured arm. Hotch had lost consciousness again.

The senior agent recalled how Hotch was when he first joined the BAU. The enthusiasm was evident, but like the rest who had served in the unit long enough, his friend had developed that particular look for seeing too much of humanity's darkest side. When that happened some turned to drinking and some seemed to have lost their sense of humour. He could not remember when was the last time he saw his friend laughed his heart out. The job had taken too much from Hotch, his marriage and his solace.

When the ambulance stopped at the ER driveway, Rossi could only watch as a group of doctors and nurses ran towards the vehicle and quickly assessed the two patients before rushing them into the ER.

Prentiss and the rest of the team went to the police station to process Michael's arrest.

Garcia met Rossi at the hospital. Jack tagged along.

"Uncle Dave. Where daddy?" the young boy asked.

Rossi kneeled so that he would be at the same eye-level with Jack. He told the boy that his daddy was being treated by the doctors.

"Does he have my stet...thes...cope, Uncle Rossi?" Jack queried.

Rossi took out the red stetescope from his pocket and told Jack he was keeping it safe for his daddy.

"Since you are here now, why don't you keep it safe for him, ok," Rossi said.

"Ok," he said as he took the stethescope from Rossi and held it tightly.

The older agent then asked Garcia about the bag she was holding.

The technical analyst opened the orange bag and when he saw its content his face broke into a grin.

"I was thinking that since the slippers are sort like a good luck charm before maybe they can work their charm again this time around and Hotch will come out just fine like like before," Garcia explained.

Jack's face also lit up when he saw the pink slipper. He slipped the stethescope around his neck and walked up to Garcia.

"Auntie Pen, can I wear them?" he asked.

Garcia smiled and took out the slippers. Jack immediately took off his shoes and wore the cute pink bunny slippers. They seemed to help in cheering him up. The sight of him walking around in the pink bunny slippers made everyone smiled.

"Thank you Penelope," Rossi said.

"For what?" Garcia asked with a baffle look on her face.

"Thank you for being you. For bringing the slippers because you know they would put that smile on Jack's face," Rossi added. Garcia just smiled as she watched Jack.


	16. Chapter 16

**At the police station**

Prentiss and JJ stood behind the two-way mirror as they watched Morgan interviewed the unsub. Michael sat there with a smile on his face and the ex-cop told Michael that he was in serious trouble for several reasons including killing the prison doctor, kidnapping a Federal agent and causing injury to another.

"As if I care agent Morgan," Michael sneered.

"By the way, how is agent Hotchner?," the unsub asked. Morgan kept silence putting on a stoic face as he didn't want to give the man the satisfaction knowing that his action had caused so much misery to many especially the team members.

"We just want to understand why Michael?," Morgan said ignoring the question.

The man gave Morgan a look and then looked away.

"Did you find Foyet?"

"Yes. We found him in the storage you kept near the factory."

"(snickered)...Have he melted yet hahahahaha," he laughed.

"Shhh...You know I now see one of the girls I put to rest. Greta, yes, that's her name Greta said she's happy. I'm glad to be able to help her," Michael giggled.

Morgan stared at the man and he could see that Michael was slipping slowly into the abyss and the killer allowed the darkness taking away his sanity bit by bit. He had seen it in some people who experienced great lost that they began to lose their sanity. They were trapped in their own nightmares with the presence of their fixation dominated that dreams.

He met Prentiss and JJ outside. The two agents looked at Morgan and waited for him to say something.

"I think we are losing him. His mind is slowly losing reality."

**At the hospital**

Rossi and Garcia visited Reid in his hospital room. The young genius was enjoying a strawberry flavoured jell-o when the two walked into his room.

"How's that head of yours?" Rossi asked.

"I will be fine sir. Do you know they have really good dessert here. Want to try some," Reid as he held out the jell-o to them.

Both shook their heads.

Then a doctor entered the room to check on Reid's condition.

"Agent Reid, everything looks fine and you can leave a day after tomorrow," said Dr Richardson.

Rossi asked about Hotch and the doctor said his colleague Dr Mathew was still working on the BAU chief and he would inform them if there were any news.

Few minutes later Haley burst into the room looking for Jack.

"I'm sorry. I would have come as soon as possible. I was at my friend's place and didn't realise my cell phone battery is dead," Hotch's ex-wife started to ramble.

"Haley, listen, Haley, Jack is fine. He's with one of the agents in the play room," Rossi tried to placate her and it seemed to be working as Haley started to calm down.

Garcia walked up to her and put a comforting arm around the woman. She broke down and cried.

**In surgery**

Dr Mathew and Dr Adam worked on the injured agent.

"Come on Agent Hotchner. Fight for us."

"Mathew I don't like the look of his blood pressure," as both doctors struggled to stable Hotch.

They realised that the agent's body was under a great stress and they could not find any injuries which cause it. Dr Adam saw the tiny puncture wound on his chest and he knew it must be related to what was wrong with his patient.

Both quickly closed the injuries and put Hotch under a close watch in the Intensive Care Unit.

"Agents," Dr Adam addressed all those present in Reid's room.

"We have stopped the bleeding, but he is in a great pain still. Have you found out what was injected into him?" he asked.

All kept silence and then Reid reminded them about the clear vial he received earlier.

"Garcia have the result come back yet?," Rossi asked.

The tech analyst checked her PDA as she had instructed the lab to forward the result to her e-mail.

'Yes...yes it's in. Let me open the attachment. It says here envenomation or...scorpion venom," Garcia told the group.

The symptoms fitted and the doctor immediately left to start on the antiserum treatment. Rossi followed the doctor to the ICU.

He saw his friend with all kind of wires attached to him. Suddenly Hotch opened his eyes and he could see the burning pain in them. Dr Adam walked into the room with a vial in his hand. Taking out a syringe, he filled it with a light yellowish liquid from the vial and injected the content into the IV line.

Rossi observed his friend from outside the room when he felt a small hand touching his. He turned his head and saw Jack's big brown eyes looking up at him. Haley stood behind the boy.

He picked up the boy so that he could see Hotch through the glass.

"Uncle Dave, will dad be all right?", the boy asked. At that moment Hotch opened his eyes again and he gave a small smile when he saw Jack in Rossi's arms. His son gave him a wave and Hotch slowly raised his hand in return. Then the pain medication took over and he welcomed the darkness again.

Rossi assured the boy that Hotch was resting and he could see his daddy as soon as he felt better.

Then Jack whispered something to his ears. Rossi broke into a big smile and nodded his head. Haley was curious.

Rossi told her that his son told him that he had a promise to keep.

"He had told me that he would clean his room if Hotch returns safely," Rossi said as he ruffled the boy's hair. Jack gave Rossi a goofy smile and turned to look at his dad again.

Few minutes later, Morgan, Prentiss, JJ and even Reid joined him outside Hotch's room. Hotch was a lucky man because the job might have taken so many things from him including his marriage, but in return he gained the loyalty of his team who would fight for him.

Rossi kept silence and felt peace at last. He really believed that everything finally would be all right until the next time one of them would be in trouble. But he knew the team would be there with their unwavering support.

**(thanks so much to all reviewers. You guys are super awesome. I hope to see you all again. To CBS thank you so much for the great show and the new season promises great episodes ahead wooohooo. Until later**, **stay well!!!)**


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